


Honorable Mention

by A_Lucy_Goose



Series: It's Complicated [1]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Bodily Fluids, Bodily Functions, F/M, FemPyro, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Issues, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderfluid Character, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unrequited Love, Vomiting, mentions of soiling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-01 11:30:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2771396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Lucy_Goose/pseuds/A_Lucy_Goose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scout had always thought that despite their differences he and his teammate Pyro had a pretty close friendship. However, recently he's discovered that everything he thought he knew about the cute and innocent little Pyro wasn't quite as true as he thought. And when he learns that his friend is in the middle of some rather complicated relationship issues he decides to offer to help the only way he knows how. Unfortunately, it only seems to make matters worse. [Expanded from the original short in Tumblr Prompts]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First

When Scout pulled away and opened his eyes he found Pyro standing there so still. Their shoulders could have been stone, hard and unmoving underneath his fingers. Their eyes were wide and locked on his. Their back was still plastered against the wall from when he’d pushed them.

Their face was flushed. They were biting their bottom lip. The one he had just kissed. It had been so soft. For some reason he really hadn’t expected that. His own lips still tingled and were still kind of puckered. He had actually started to feel kind of silly about that so he quickly pressed them flat and slowly, very slowly he began to really regret what he’d just done.

“Py?” His voice cracked. He was scared to death but he started to babble on anyway, “I… I’m really sorry but hear me out okay. I’ve been thinking about this a lot an’… I just… I could… It ain’t right for you to have to do this all on your own ya know. It ain’t fair and you shouldn’t have to alright.”

He was careful when he pulled his hands away from their shoulders. He still couldn’t be sure what they would do yet.

“I think… no. I know… I’d been a good husband okay. I mean I know I never said anything but I could be a good one if ya just gave me a shot. I could help… with the kid ya know. A kid needs a dad alright. Believe me I know and I could be…”

His voice went all soft and fearful and he hated it. He fucking hated it. How could he convince them if he couldn’t even man up and say what he needed to without shaking and… and… Shit!

“I could be their dad okay. An’ nobody would need ta know any different. I could take care you guys. Ya know… like a guy’s supposed ta.”

It felt like forever. He thought that maybe he should say something else but he’d drawn a blank. He was tapped out. At a complete loss for words and the enormity of that was staggering.

Finally Pyro blinked once, then twice and just for a second he could have sworn he saw those strange, mismatched eyes go all glassy and soft. He almost let himself hope but just as suddenly they narrowed dangerously.

“Py? God… say something.” He started to fidget, “Please... I just…”

Their voice was low and full of something so much like hate when they finally did that his blood turned to ice in his veins, “If you ever do that to me again I will rip out your fucking heart and stuff down your throat.”

“Oh.” Well, it was a little too late for that. “Okay.”

He didn’t even feel it when Pyro pushed past him and stomped down the hallway. It wasn’t until he heard their bedroom door slam that he made another sound. It was a pained whimper in the back of his throat.

He just wanted to die. Instead he just curled up against the wall, his forehead pressed against it. If he could he would have just sank into the floor and disappeared.

Sure, he had still been growing accustom to the sound of Pyro’s voice but he had never expected to hear anything like that from them. Never anything so angry and cruel.

Fuck Sniper. Fuck that piss smelling son of a bitch! This was all his fault.

Months. He had to listen to them for months for more nights than he ever wanted to even think about and every morning he had to get up and pretend that he hadn’t. Then pretend that he did see that fucker slink away to his fucking piss van every time.

He’d ruined Pyro. They weren’t the Pyro he’d known anymore.

Scout had known all along that the two of them was a bad idea and he hadn’t pretended any different when he found out. Not only was it just plain weird and gross, Py was just too good for that lanky fuck. And he’d been right. Sniper wasn’t even here. He’d left Py high and dry but still here they were hanging on to him like he was some fucking… Scout didn’t even know he was **_so_** pissed… and hurt even if he didn’t want to admit it.

It just wasn’t fair. He’d seen Pyro first. 


	2. Second

It was well after dinner when Scout finally limped back into the locker room again. It had been a longer run than he’s originally intended but he had been restless lately. It had been weeks since their last match and he felt like he was going to lose his mind if he didn’t get out of the base even for a little while. So, he’d gone out after dinner had nearly run himself into the ground before he’d decided to head back.

He had already been half way out of his clothes before he realized he wasn’t alone. Not that he cared if anyone else was there but when you spent so much time around a bunch of trained killers—some of them more than a little unstable—you learned real quick to make yourself known before you accidentally got your head blown off. Respawn be damned. That was an unpleasant experience no matter how many times you went through it.

Besides, if he could spare his eyes from unnecessarily being exposed to naked old dude ass then all the better.

Though, before he’d been able to loudly announce himself he was interrupted by the horrific sound of someone losing their dinner.

Immediately grossed out, Scout’s face scrunched up in horror, “Ah, c’mon man.”

His own stomach curled in on its self in disgust when he was treated to the sound of another wave of vomit hitting water. Well, at least whoever the poor bastard was had made it to the toilet. Though, those feelings of disgust were soon replaced when he realized that it wasn’t just retching he’d been hearing. The sound of gagging was interspersed with muffled sobs. That just made him cringe even more this time with sympathy.

He’d seen these guys get blown to bits on a regular basis and be out of respawn again in moments just like nothing happened. So whatever had gotten hold to whoever this was had to be something fierce to have one of them in tears.

Jeez, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know who it was. Honestly, if he hadn’t been in awful need of a shower before he crawled into bed he might have just high tailed it out of there but well…

“H-hey… pal. Can’t be that bad, eh? We’ve all been there.” Curiosity of course took over then. Which one of his teammates was this poor bastard anyway?

Despite the sour smell of bile in the air, Scout was cautious as he rounded the corner to the stalls.  It hadn’t taken long to figure it out. Although, he could only see the guy’s feet and their lower half underneath the stall wall, he knew those boots and baggy bottoms anywhere.

“Py? Shit man! What hell happened to you?” Scout rushed over without thinking twice.

He was worried sure but he was more surprised than anything. He’d never seen Pyro sick. Ever. Not even with a case of the sniffles. And he’d certainly never seen the guy crying. It was actually kind of heartbreaking to see the little guy like that. Especially, without the mask in the way. Py hardly ever took off the mask after all. Not even to eat the majority of the time. Though, for obvious reasons, Scout could see how now might be as good a time as any to have it out of the way.

Out of respect, Scout tried not to stare but it was a bit of a novelty that he couldn’t seem to pass up. Even if, to put it bluntly, Pyro looked like shit.

Their hair was mussed all to hell—matted with sweat in some places and sticking up in others. Their tanned skin, though more than a little pale at the moment, was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. They were half way out of their suit, bare arms and hands trembling and gripping at the rim of the toilet bowl for dear life.

Scout sighed, knelled and placed a hand on their back. They were still shaking and shivering on the dirty tile floor.

“Told you to steer clear of Soldier’s cooking, man,” he chuckled weakly.

Pyro moaned miserably and turned to the sound of his voice. Their face was red and splotchy. Their eyes red and watery. There were tears and snot and… other stuff smeared on their face but Scout tried not to let it deter him.

“Hurts…” they whimpered, their voice was raspy and weak.

“Uh… maybe we should get you to the doc, man. I mean… you look… well… terrible. And I can tell you for a fact that this floor is not the place you want to have your face laying on if you get me.”

“No,” Pyro sniveled, “Please… just… I’ll be fine. I just need a few minutes.”

“Buddy… you clearly ain’t seen what I’m seeing right now. It’s gonna take more than a few minutes.”

“No!” Pyro cringed again and curled into a tighter ball around their middle. “oh…ooooh god.” A nasty sounding belch erupted from them then followed closely by more dry heaves. Luckily for them both, nothing else comes up but Pyro moaned miserably anyhow.

“What the hell did you eat anyway?” Scout was a bit in awe at the firebug’s miserable state honestly. Even, if he was still a bit worried. “You over do it on candy or something?”

Pyro’s sudden laugh startled Scout out of his wonderment however pitiful it had been. The other mercenary shook their head slightly but winced and stopped just as quickly. “I-I wish… I wish it was just something I _ate_ ,” They chuckled bitterly and it was probably the saddest thing Scout had ever heard.

“C’mon Py. Please? Just let me just take you to see the doc. He can fix you for sure, man. He’s probably got some antacids or something.”

Pyro made a hurt sort of sound then but didn’t fight when Scout tried to help them up. Though, they didn’t offer much in the way of help either.

“He… can’t,” The firestarter forced out between deep, miserable sounding breaths but they don’t elaborate on why.

“It’s not the end of the world man. The guy can regrow limbs! I’m sure he can handle a little upset stomach.”

Pyro laughed hollowly again, “Scout… look, man… it’s… it’s not that. It’s…”

It was the strangest thing to actually hear Pyro’s voice for once. Especially after so long. It wasn’t anything like what he’d expected. It was deeper than he’d thought it would be. Rusty sounding but he couldn’t be sure if it usually sounded like that or if it was just from all the upchucking they’d been doing.

Nonetheless, Scout tried to focus on the situation at hand though even as he soaked everything in. He’d finally he got both of their feet flat on the floor and had gently wrapped his arm around Pyro to support them. “You… uh… empty for now?” he asked looking hesitant.

Pyro exhaled again quietly, “Y-yeah… pretty sure.”

“Good.” Scout started them toward the door. “If it ain’t an upset stomach what the hell is it then?”

Pyro went still and Scout panicked, “H-hey… you ain’t about to…”

The other mercenary seemed to be at war with their self even if the seemed to be able to pull their self together briefly, “It’s… it’s a… um…” Though, before they could finish their face twisted up again something awful. A sob bubbled up out of Pyro’s throat and Scout couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so pathetically useless.

The moment seemed surreal to Scout but all he could do was stand there as he held Pyro up while they cried. This was the longest he’d gotten to get a look at the Pyro’s face. The closest he’d been to them when he had gotten the chance. He had waited rather impatiently for the moment when his friend would trust him enough. And now? Now, he’d given anything to never have seen it in the first place. Not if it had to be like this.

“Oh… god… Hey, hey… whatever it is. It’s gonna be okay. Alright? We’ll fix it, man. J-jeez. You’re… Heh… you’re blubbering like some girl. S-suck it up, man.”

That, of course, didn’t help at all and they just continued to stand there awkwardly. Between sobs and gasped breaths he could hear words. Soft, miserable and confusing.

“I messed up. I messed up. I really messed up…” Pyro whimpered. “Oh, Scout… I… don’t know what to do.”

What could he say to that? All this time spent between them he’d spent most of it trying to decipher what his friend was saying. Muffled mumbles with nothing but body language to give him a clue what they could mean. He’d become an expert in Pyro-ese.

He’d been so jealous when he found out that someone else had gotten the chance to see what was really underneath his friend’s mask before he did.

“C’mon Py,” Scout’s voice grew softer. “C’mon, man… it’s gonna be alright. Whatever it is. It can’t be that bad.” He sighed and turned his head and leaned it against Pyro’s. The soft damps curls of hair over their ear pressing against his forehead. “Y’got me okay? No matter what. You got me.”

And wonder of wonders, that actually seemed to work. Thank god. However, although Pyro’s rough hiccupping sobs finally seemed to subside, Scout was still a bit shaken by what he’d seen his friend reduced to. What the hell was this? Pyro was never sad. Never like this. What the hell was going on?

Eventually, though he still didn’t have an answer, they were left just standing there with only Pyro’s harsh breathing echoing off the walls around them.

“Thank you,” Pyro said softly.

“Y-yeah, no problem, bud. C’mon… lets go see the doc, huh?” He offered a weak smile before he continued to lead them down the hallway.

If Scout were being honest, however, this wasn’t the first time he’d heard Pyro crying. It just had been the first time he’d had to face it. Things had just gotten more and more awkward around the base the past few weeks. What with some of the guys leaving and all. Spy had been the first to disappear. The snake had slithered off in the night a while back and hadn’t been heard from since. To Scout it hadn’t really been that surprisingly. He’d been a little disappointed but if he’d thought about it he remembered that Pyro had taken it a little harder than he had.

To be fair, they hadn’t had word from the Administrator in over a month at that point and they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the BLUs in longer than that.

But it wasn’t until Sniper had up and took off without a word that Pyro had taken a turn for the worse. They spent all their time locked in their room. Not even Engi could coax them out on most days. And at night when it was quiet enough Scout could hear them over there. Oh, he tried not to, but he couldn’t help it. He’d always been able to hear what went on over there in the Pyro’s room at night when the halls were too quiet to cover the sounds.

Scout knew all about why Pyro might be crying and it had everything to do with that Aussie bastard.

They made their way down the hall slowly. Pyro was still shivering and he could hear the gurgle of their stomach if he listened hard enough. Poor guy. He must have really gotten into something bad. It’d figure with the poor guy’s luck the first time he actually tried to eat anything in days that it’d turn on them something awful like this.

Scout wrinkled his nose and tried to ignore the stench of vomit coming off the kid but it was pretty harsh. They must have upchucked down the front of their suit or something. It was pulled down to expose the cloth one they wore underneath but even that one was stained a bit. Jeez.

Pyro’s face was still red and splotchy. It even worse now cause of all the crying and even more sweat dotted their forehead.

“Almost there, bud.”

The doors to the Med bay were right up ahead. Even though it was late Scout knew the Doc was probably still up and about. They guy hardly ever slept and even if he did his quarters were attached so it wouldn’t take much to rouse him.  

“Hey doc!” Scout hollered as he kicked the doors open. “I got a patient for ya!”

He should have realized what was wrong right away but he’d left Pyro to lean against one of the bare beds while he frantically searched for their missing medic.

“Fuck,” he said softly after having practically torn the place apart. He’d even checked the guy’s rooms. “He’s gone. Like really gone.”

All of Medic’s tools, his books and clothes… even his birds. Everything was gone.

“Fuck!” Scout nearly flipped one of the tables in his anger.

In response, Pyro finally gave in and dropped to the floor and released whatever had been left in their gut.

“Aww man,” Scout groaned in sympathy but still he made to help the poor guy up, “Py…”

“N-nooo. W-wait… don’t…”

But Scout was already dashing over when the smell hit him. That wasn’t just vomit…

Pyro started to sob uncontrollably again.

“Oh… god. I’msorryimsorry…” Pyro covered their face in shame.

“It’s alright. Hey, it’s alright, man,” Scout tried to reassure them but it was no use. Pyro must have been mortified. It was one thing to throw up your guts in front of someone. It was certainly a whole another ball game to crap your pants in front of them. Even if they were your best friend.

“H-hey,” Scout’s voice wavered. God… that smell. “We’ll get you cleaned up here. No one has to know alright.”

Despite the mess, Scout was gentle when he helped Pyro up again and led him to the doctor’s abandoned room and to the adjacent bathroom. Pyro moaned in misery. Scout couldn’t really blame them for it.

 

Later, back in his room, once Pyro was clean and dozing in his bed, Scout finally let out the breath it felt like he’d been holding for so long and plopped down on the floor next to it. Pyro’s room had been a complete disaster and hadn’t smelled much better than the mess they’d left in the doc’s bathroom. Neither of them had felt much like dealing with it at the moment so Scout had brought them here.

“Thank you,” Pyro sounded completely wrecked honestly but at least they weren’t crying anymore. Not that Scout could blame them after everything.

Scout didn’t say anything in response though. He was still tired from his run. From dealing with Pyro. From trying to make sense of everything. Medic was gone. Spy was gone. Sniper… that fuck…

“It’s…” Pyro started quietly, hesitantly. “It’s a baby.”

And now this. It was like the all the sound has been sucked out of the room. There wasn’t even the sound of breathing.

But as crazy as it was—I mean c’mon a baby? In that moment it all made sense.

“It’s why I’m sick,” Pyro continued when Scout didn’t say anything to stop them. “I’m… uh… gonna have a kid.”

All of it.

Of course.

He knew about Pyro and Sniper. He knew what they got up to behind closed doors. He’d heard a lot of it for fuck’s sake. And he wasn’t the type of guy to judge no one. He’d never even brought it up. He’d figured that if Pyro wanted him to know that they would tell him.

Besides, he knew how it got being locked up with a bunch of guys with no outlet to speak of. He wasn’t going to make it tough on them. Even, if he had he was plenty sure that either of them let alone the two of them could make it plenty tough on him in return.

But Pyro was his friend. Scout would never do that to them.

Deep down though he sort of figured Pyro wasn’t what he’d always thought. His best friend… his little bro… was and had always been a woman. He known pretty much from the first time he’d gotten a glimpse of Pyro hurriedly stuffing a cupcake in their mouth before pulling their mask back down. It had been the soft slop of their jaw line. Their full lips… It had just been a little glimpse but he’d kinda obsessed over it once he’d gotten a peak.

Though, maybe it had been the first time he’s gotten a look at the kid’s stuffed animal collection that had convinced him.

Or the first time, he’d heard Pyro over there in their room with Sniper… The sound of their voice. How high it could get.

Scout had known for a while he’d just never said anything when he realized it. He’d just kept calling them bro and guy and bud. They were his little brother no matter what so it hadn’t mattered. Hadn’t changed anything. Even when he found out that Pyro was a couple years older than he was.

He’d just never tried to relearn them. There was nothing to learn.

“I… I’m kinda scared,” Pyro said finally when the silence had stretched on a little too long for both their comfort.

Scared? Pyro? Of all the people he ever thought he’d hear this from Pyro had never been one of them. He’d seen his friend chase a down a Spy with just that sledgehammer of theirs passed a BLU Solider, a Demoman with a Heavy and Medic duo hot on their heels just because he’d dared to harass their Engineer. And that hadn’t been the craziest thing he could think of just the first.

Scout grit his teeth then but quickly swallowed down any anger he might have felt toward a certain runaway bushman before he turned to his friend and offered a tired smile.

“It’s gonna be alright, man. I told ya. Y’got me remember? Let’s just… get some sleep alright.” He curled up on the stash of blankets he’d been able to gather up on the floor. “I’m freaking beat. An’ I know you gotta be too. We’ll… uh… talk about it some more tomorrow.”

There was no sense freaking out about this right now. Not when he’d finally gotten Pyro to calm down anyhow.

“Yeah… okay.”

Though he couldn’t see it, Scout could hear the smile in Pyro’s voice then. He decided then that, even though he didn’t really have a clue how he was going to do it, he was going to find a way to make everything alright.

One way. Or another.  


End file.
